Anthony Joshua ‘tricked’ into taking Oleksandr Usyk fight as AJ given the ‘brutal truth’

Anthony Joshua previews his fight with Oleksandr Usyk

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Former world champion Carl Froch believes fellow Brit Anthony Joshua will be knocked out during Saturday’s re-match with Oleksandr Usyk, he also thinks that the Ukrainian tricked AJ into taking a first fight with him. Boxing analyst Froch says that Usyk deceived AJ into accepting a fight with him, by making his contest with Derek Chisora look closer than it was.

Joshua is looking for revenge on Saturday night after losing his WBA Super, IBF, IBO and WBO titles to Usyk on an unanimous judge’s points decision when they met last September. Earlier in his career Usyk was untouchable at cruiserweight becoming undisputed unified champion before moving up to the heavyweight division.  

He beat Chazz Witherspoon on his classification debut before winning against Chisora by unanimous decision. “Usyk played with Derek Chisora when they fought at heavyweight – just took his time,” Froch told the BBC in his regular column. 

“He’s that clever I think he made that contest look close on purpose to get the AJ fight.” Froch, who won 33 out of 35 fights as a super-middleweight and held the WBC, IBF and WBA (unified) crowns, had a ‘brutal truth’ for AJ fearing the British fighter is heading for another defeat in Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.

He also hinted that Joshua could retire if the defeat is a heavy one. Froch added: “If it’s a bad defeat – a conclusive points loss or a heavy knockout – it could be the end for AJ. I just don’t see where he can go after back-to-back defeats. I wholeheartedly want him to win and I am not totally writing him off.  

“He has all the physical attributes, he’s big enough and strong enough, but I have to be brutally honest and say I don’t think he will win. If Usyk can land with the same power and accuracy as he did last time, I don’t think Joshua will hear the final bell.

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Usyk is coming into Saturday’s fight looking heavier than when he beat Joshua in London last year. AJ believes that the Ukrainian’s added timber will not help him punch harder. Froch believes that if Usyk has lost his speed through the weight gain then it could leave him vulnerable to the heavy blows of AJ. 

“Usyk is a bigger man now, he’s heavier, and that could be a positive or a negative,” added Froch. “I think if he loses that bit of speed, now he’s put weight on, he’ll be vulnerable and it’s going to be easier for Joshua to maybe have an impact and get him out of there. AJ is not up against a monster. If he wins, he will reaffirm himself as one of the world’s top heavyweights.” 

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